Friday, 27 September 2013

(1) Pork Bangers and Mash - I could easily think of another restaurant that serves a tastier Pork Bangers and Mash (Oriole Cafe & Bar to name one), gosh the sausages taste so average, it was as though the chef bought any common sausage from Cold Storage & served it to us.

(2) Grilled Marinated Boneless Chicken Leg - Honestly, can the food portions get any smaller? I wasn't sure if the burnt bits of chicken was deliberate but I am not a fan of burnt food (hello, cancer-causing carcinogen??). The BBQ sauce was also mediocre, an excellent sauce to complement the chicken would have enhanced the taste but this was definitely not one.

My taste buds were not impressed to say the least. We would have expected better with such prices charged. Of all 3 waiters & waitresses who had served us, all seemed in dire need of some uplift because their lackluster service really did not help with our dining experience.

Thursday, 26 September 2013

The bestie participated in Timberland's 40th anniversary celebration held at VivoCity. And since VivoCity is SO near to my office, I just HAD to go down to support! Check out the hand drawn designs on the Timberland boots! Notice how the design ties in with Timberland's theme? :)

Saturday, 21 September 2013

The Singapore Grand Prix is a motor race on the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The event takes place in Singapore on the Marina Bay Street Circuit and was the inaugural F1 night race and the first street circuit in Asia. The first race held at the new Marina Bay Street Circuit was the 15th round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, and was also the first night-time event in Formula One history.
In the 6th year of the night race hosted in Singapore, I finally had the chance to catch it live! I caught the qualifying race on Day 2 of the 2013 F1 night race & it was such an exhilarating experience. Our tickets for the Zone 1 Pit Grandstand area allows access to all zones 1, 2, 3 & 4. Eager to dive into the action, we arrived at Zone 4 Gate 6 (beside Fullerton Hotel) in the afternoon, all ready to explore the various zones before settling down at our seats in the Pit Grandstand.

The very noob me was amazed by the array of activities & performances. I had always thought that F1 is just about watching race cars compete! Boy, I was so wrong. There were so many entertainment events on the side line. At the Padang & Esplanade Park area, there were vintage cars on display where one can go trigger happy & snap some pictures. For those who wish to own a piece of the F1 excitement, you could purchase team merchandise from the booths. Other activities include temporary tattoo booths as well as simulator ride booths. Not forgetting the numerous stalls selling beer!

As we continued walking towards our seats, we found ourselves at Makansutra Gluttons Bay. We thought it would be a good idea to fill our tummy before catching the race since we weren't certain if the Pit Grandstand area had any restaurants or food options available.

After dinner, it was a long long stroll to our seats. We honestly did not expect such a long walk! The Pit Grandstand zone was restricted to Zone 1 ticket holders. In the Village Stage area, there were also stalls set up to sell food & drinks (Marche, Peach Garden, to name a few). At the performance stage, we caught the Sam Willows live! Finally round 9pm, the qualifying race started. The noise from the cars were deafening! I was awestruck. Without the ear plugs I'm pretty sure my ear drums will be in a sorry state.

The smell of burnt rubber was in the air, the eager anticipation & the powerful car engines speeding past the tracks, such an unforgettable experience! However, with ear plugs in our ears, we could not hear a single piece of commentary. Neither could we tell which team the race car that zooms past belongs to X_X Such a pity! Later on towards the end of the qualifiers, we left our seats & moved towards the Village Stage area, where the noise level was considerably lower, we removed our ear plugs & enjoyed the telecast on the projector screen alongside commentaries which aided our understanding of the race.

Transportation out of the F1 zone was a breeze, to my surprise. No long queues of sweaty people. We took the shuttle bus provided to Lavender MRT station off to home we go!

Staring at the selection of cakes (pretty decent, roughly 5-6 choices available), we had a hard time deciding & finally picked a Mango Savarin & a Chocolate Banana Dome. Friends who know me well would know that I have a child's sweet tooth but on the opposite end was the fiance who is not a fan of sweet pastries. Bubble tea, gummy candies, chocolate, cakes, just to name a few.

Once the server presented us our cakes, we dug in! Boy oh boy, do these tiny pieces of cake tantalize our taste buds! The fiance approves!

Unfortunately due to bad weather & lack of due diligence (many of the restaurants are not open for lunch on Sunday), we ended up at Sejong Korean Restaurant in Tiong Bahru Plaza :) The restaurant was pretty empty when we arrived, probably due to wet weather which kept customers away.

Line up of food was decent, typical of what you would expect of Korean BBQ joints. For a non-beef eater like myself, basically it's just the chicken & pork which will fill my tummy. So naturally, how the meat is marinated & how tender the meat tastes after cooking are key points that would win my taste buds over.

From past experiences at 2D1N Soju Bang & Ssikkek Korean Grill BBQ, where the promise of Korean bbq meat is concerned, the meat is always marinated to perfection & tender to chew on (er, meat tenderizer overload?). Pardon the old lady with weak/lazy jaws haha. As it turns out at Sejong Korean Restaurant, the quality of marinate & meat is definitely not on par with the other 2 restaurants I've visited before. I found the cooked pork to be dry & tough to bite on, perhaps the restaurant has added less meat tenderizer?

As one would usually wrap the meat in lettuce leaf, I would top it off with the chili available, after all I love spicy food & chili is a definite must-have at every meal. The chili was unfortunately, overpoweringly salty :( All in all, the food was not fantastic, the sort which you will not return to the food line up for another round. 2D1N Soju Bang & Ssikkek Korean Grill BBQ would still be my top recommendations.

After lunch, we proceeded to McCafe for drinks as well as celebrate Justina's birthday! Happy happy happy birthday my dear friend! The Guanaja cake from Rive Gauche Patisserie was heavenly. Thick & rich chocolate cake, my god, so so so good! Honestly, who can say no to a chocolate cake!